quote:

The Elder Lament

1

By the light of the moon we would sit by
the shore and listen as the waves rolled in,
the steady pulsing tide having quite the
soothing effect. In the summer, you could
close your eyes and breathe in deep the sea
air. You could almost taste the tang of salt
with every breath. In the springtime, fragrant
flowers bloomed a bit away from the shoreline,
the sweet aroma of the flowers mixing with
that sharp salt scent. In the sky, the birds
wheeled, hunting for game, or just soaring on
the wind. Their cries split the air and
reverberated over the hills.

I can close my eyes and remember it all, even
now.
The keen sharpness of the air in autumn when
the storm winds begin to blow and the seas
became wild. A harsh mistress she is, and yet you
cannot help but love her. She gives life of her
own, just as she claims life. All those who live
near the sea are keenly aware of this, and
though we are long gone from sandy shores
she stays with us still, singing the siren song
of yesterday when brave adventurers sailed
the stormy seas, and tempted fate with
every bold voyage.

2

In the fall, the leaves would begin to
turn golden and red, after the harvest
and before the storm season when the men
would sail out to raid, we would have
harvest gatherings, where the bounty of
field and forest were shared gladly. The
men would drink vast quantities of
honeyberry and would get loud and make
spoting wagers. The elders would sit at
the Tchan tables playing games of strategy.

The women gathered near the harvest
tables, cooking and bustling around tending
the wee ones. We would play harvest games
beside the shore, laughing and racing along
the sand, the cold water of the ocean
playing at our heels.
The older boys would go on the hunt
for small game, besting the wild creatures
with their bare hands.

On the second day, the men would go
out hunting dragons. They would wear no
armor, and carry only their great blades.
After the hunt, there was a great feast.

3

The hides would be stretched in the sun
over the highest hill, so that the best
could be judged.

During An Flea Mhor, the amerins would play
joyful tunes of flute and fiddle and
drum. There would be great dancing and
merriment. The men again would indulge in
honeyberry, but the women would drink
honeysuckle tea, with the bounty of
honeysuckle we'd pick in the springtime when
the fragrant winds blew from the north,
bringing the fading hints of winter.
Here, in the fall, the tea, made with
honeysuckle and rosehips was a warming drink
when the evening winds again brought the
sharp scent of snow, still weeks off, but our
noses could always smell snow early.

After the Gula, when the laws have been
discussed, and justice dispensed, then came
the time for marriage contracts. This was
when we became one with another, although
there was a pecking order.

4

Warriors were always prized, as they could
best provide for their women and protect
them.
The sons of chieftains were also a prize, as
they were both noble and warriors.

The amerins were next, their artistic souls
being greatly valued. They were our joy
bringers, and they often brought great
happiness to their brides.

The traders were often chosen by women
of a commercial mindset.

Of the common folk, there were many.
Rarely did we marry between different
standings, but occasionally one exception
may be chosen.

In that day, there was one who was
considered to be the greatest of warriors.
His father was a great chieftain. His mother,
however, was something else. She appeared to
be an ice giant like us, but her colour was pale
and she seemed to glow from within.

5

For all her size, she seemed almost
ethereal.
Her son was named Frostfyre.

What none of us knew was that one day
Frostfyre, also known as The Bright One,
would become our savior and hero.

I remember the night it happened. I remember
the incoming storms that heralded the
coming of the snow and ice. We were able to
hear the creaking of the ships as they
sailed in by the dozens all of them bearing
the people of the races we had raided
over the centuries.

The war was brutal, and our numbers were
cruelly diminished within mere days. Good
men and women were lost those days, and
children that made not the journey. We
were driven north, always north, for we knew
there was no way to turn the tide in our
favor, so on we continued.

6

We were led by The Bright One in those
dark days, dark of dark. The heavy storms
of winter were upon us, and into those
storms we went.
The Bright One was a sight to see in those
days his white flesh almost glowing in the
tempest as he led us onward. His courage
and conviction never wavered. He proved,
time and again, that he was the hero we
believed him to be.

Many were the days of misery. We were
often hungry, but we dared not slow
down to hunt. We knew they were no
longer behind us, but we also knew they
would become violent if we again returned.
The Bright One's stone thrower told us
that one day we would return to the
lands which we called home. One day, a
champion will come of The Bright One's line
who would be a great leader and warrior.

What follows is known as "The Elder Lament".

7

They came in the night in a great fleet of ships
To strike at our heart
They poured forth in numbers too many to count
We were lost from the start
Harder they pressed us till soon all was lost
We were driven away
We gathered our children we left all our treasures
We could no more stay
They've driven us onward far to the north
Where the snow always falls
Far from our homes in the hills and the valleys
Where the trees have grown tall.
We walk the path that now spreads out before us
Driven on in the storm
We follow The Bright One throughout the dark
Days
To the mountain's lee warm
I still remember the smell of the heather.
When the summer winds blow
The sight of the sea crashing into the rocks
And the spray from below
Our great halls would cast a gold glow of light
One could see from afar
Shining in brightness against the cold darkness
A welcome star.

8

Now we have come to the icy cold
Wastelands
Where the bitter winds blow
Here by the mountains
By the Frostfyre's pale glow
Alone at the top of the world we have
Settled
And here we have grown
Our halls and our castles, our great once
Again
Our courage is shown.
Here we have grown strong and raised some
Fine families
Plentiful is the game
The trees were all planted have grown
Straight and tall
And our children the same.
Now we will wait for the one who will lead us.
We'll follow him home
Against the wild seas, we will ride in the storms
Once more we will roam

9

We'll hunt for the beasts that can feed
All our families
We'll raid wild and free
We'll farm and we'll love and we'll laugh
And we'll fight
On the shore of the sea
Once more against dragons we'll test our
Great courage
With sinew and steel
The hide we will cure by the light of
The Frostfyre
At the top of the hill

quote:

Laguzoki

1

This is the journal of Laguzoki, bone caster.
Young Nivalis is proving to be an adept pupil.
He has progressed far more quickly than I
would have imagined possible.
His grasp of the basics is beyond compare.
Truly the line of Frostfyre is blessed.

Today young Nivalis summoned an ice elemental.
At the age of twenty, his skills are already
quite advanced. Not only did he
demonstrate great skill, but he then
displayed his physical prowess by defeating
the creature bare-handed.

I am beginning to believe that this may well be
the one long fortold of that will lead our
people back to our lands.

He will bear watching.

2

Today young Nivalis captured three humans.
What surprised him most was the utmost
shock with which we were greeted. Nivalis was
most outraged at the fact that he
seemed to be unheard of at all.

Master Nivalis decided to hold the humans
and gather all the information about the
humans that he could. Unfortunately humans
are very short-lived and are somewhat
fragile. Rather than Nivalis being pleased at
this fact he was even more angry than ever.

How could these little folk possibly
defeat us, drive us from our homes, and
then forget us! Nivalis used this
information to whip our people into a
frenzy. Many of our people fell in line
and demanded that Nivalis lead them home
to take revenge on the small folk.

Nivalis started studying the humans, looking
for the key to defeating them despite
the superior numbers.

3

I am of the same bloodline. If Nivalis ever
discovers this, my life will be worthless. I must
destroy those pages. For now I must flee. I
shall travel south, near the lands of the
humans.
Though I must wait for the coming of a human
hero and send him on his journey. I give this
journal to Sceolan in the hopes that he will
preserve history within these pages.

-----

Here begins the journal of Sceolan the Survivor.
For many years I have kept this journal, but until
now it wasn't necessary to keep track of
events.
After the departure of Laguzoki, his followers
have quietly worked in the shadows to derail
Nivalis' plan.

There is a great division among our people.
Many know that Nivalis is of the Frostfyre line,
and that his word, by rights, is law. Some of us
know better. Nivalis is a thug, and is more
interested in vengeance against the small folk.
There are those of us who believe that there is
a better way.

4

A war of peace. The raiding is not
necessary. We can live well with those who
once forced us north.

We have learned, in the last hundred
years that we are, if anything, merely a
myth used to scare human children. This
has enraged some of our more war-like
brethren, but some of us merely find it
sad. There are those among us who
would go south raging and storming and
bring war to the small folk, so as to
remind them that we are here, and we are
to be feared.

We cannot allow that to happen. The very
survival of our people depends on how
we react to this. True, being forgotten
and relegated to myth is
disheartening. Some among us, however,
believe that the best way forward is to
forge an alliance with the small folk.

5

War has broken out amongst our people.
Nivalis has learned of the people who wish
to make peace with the small folk, and
has declared us to be rebels. We will
fight to the last to defend our
imeals. However, we cannot allow hatred
to ruin us, and this is what he would
have.
Nivalis himself has not made an appearance,
however. He has removed himself to his
mountaintop castle and sequestered
himself inside. The Stormrider Clan has
been all but wiped out. I am one of the
last survivors of my clan, but I will not
allow myself to be taken by his forces.

Blizzard and Dragon clans have fallen in
behind Nivalis, despite their earlier
resolutions not to do so. I don't
know how much longer I can remain here.
The fighting has gotten intense, and
many of my friends have fallen.

6

Too many are dead or lost. Our
village has been wiped off the face of
the earth by Nivalis and his...followers.
Those accursed Khy'Rhian flooded
our village, killing everyone they came
across. It was only a blessing that I was
away at the time. I am resolved to
seek out others of our kind and see
if I can convince them to stop Nivalis, or
if not stop him, then replace him as our
ruler. I am convinced Nivalis is utterly
insane.

I followed Nivalis the last time he
wandered up into the mountains. He's
always surrounded by those accursed
Khy'Rhian, and I cannot find the right
opportunity to end him. He goes up
and stands on a peak across from that
strabge gate. He gazes at it for hours.
I don't know what is going on in his
mind.

7

I awaited my moment while he was away
and went to his fortress. He has maps
spread out on tables in his study. He
seems to be obsessed with a being
named Letalis. There are papers on his
desk referring to a Spirit Warden,
whatever that is. I am concerned about
his plans. As near as I can tell from what
I've seen, he's planning to destroy
Lore in a cataclysm of ice.

I am no bone caster but even I
understand that we are part of Lore,
and we cannot exist in in a world that is
frozen. I am convinced he is
completely mad. We are made to live in
these cold climates, but we also
enjoy the sun, and warmer climates are
good for us as well. Our past history
is proof of that.

8

The clans are scattered now. The
madness of Nivalis infected our people,
and we fell to fighting amongst
ourselves. I have sent my warriors to
White Mountain to await my word.
One day I will bring them down and we
will destroy Nivalis and all he stands
for.

I have begun searching for Laguzoki. I know
that he journeyed south towards
the lands that were once ours, and is
now living in a place where the summers
are far warmer than they are here. He
may be able to guide our warriors on
what to do. I have now made the trip
south at least a dozen times. I believe
I may be getting closer to finding him,
but it's now been closer to a hundred
years since anyone has seen him.

9

I have ordered my fighters to follow
him. They are not to approach him,
merely to keep an eye on him and what
he does. I have also sent someone to
steal some papers from Nivalis.
I hope to find something in his papers
that will help us to take him down. While
it's true he's of the Frostfyre clan,
and our laws make him protected, I
believe he has broken the trust of his
crown.

He will not lead us back to our old way
of life, and I'm not convinced he should
return to that way of life.

He will only lead us to ruin.

10

There must be a way for us to return to
the world of Lore, not as destroyers,
but as a part of the whole world. Here in
the ice wastes we only grow stagnant. We
grow less healthy as there are herbs and
crafts that we cannot grow by the blue
Frostfyre.
In my search for Laguzoki, I have seen
the ocean. I have felt the call of her storm
tossed seas and it is my desire that I can
experience the thrill and joy of sailing on
the winter seas. Standing tall in the raging
storms upon a deck that rocks wildly with
the heaving of the ocean.
I believe that we can return to the world
of man, not as destroyers but as traders.
We can lend our strong arms to the world
of Lore and help protect this world. We
are but one race upon the surface of this
world and I believe that we are meant for
something greater than just squatting
here in the shadows of the mountains here.
We must evolve or we will disappear.

11

We must become more than we are or we will
never reach our potential. This I learned
from Laguzoki, who is wise beyong his years.

I have learned something from the papers
that I have had stolen from Nivalis. It seems
that the best moment to strike against
Nivalis will be when he attempts to absorb
the evil spirit called Isathaara. We have heard
of this creature from legends long
passed down. When he attempts to absorb
the spirit, he will have to maintain all his
concentration to succeed. If we attack at
that precise moment, we may be able to
disrupt the ritual. The biggest concern at
that moment will be eliminating all the
Khy'Rhian he has surrounded himself with.

I will hide this journal for now, and hope
that one day our chance will come, if the
lords are kind. Till that time, I shall
continue to search for Laguzoki, and watch
Nivalis. I believe our chance will come if we are
patient.